I stay 'ere because it's me duty. And bein' a dwarf is all about doin' yer duty, even if it makes ye miserable. ESPECIALLY if it makes ye miserable!

Durkon Allotrope Thundershield is the party cleric of the Order of the Stick, hired by Roy Greenhilt. He served as a healer, spiritual adviser and backup melee fighter (often using Thor's might).

A 55-year-old Dwarf, Durkon was born to Tenrin and Sigdi Thundershield.[1] He worshipped Thor, and his chosen domains were Air and Good (evidenced through his ability to cast Control Winds and Holy Smite, respectively). He is currently a vampire, due to his death and reanimation at the hands of the vampire Malack, but has rejoined the party. His faith, however, has transferred to Hel since his body became possessed by the free vampiric spirit in him.

Contents

Durkon was born to Tenrin and Sigdi Thundershield in the dwarven lands, where he stayed throughout his early life. He joined the temple of Thor as a cleric and lived within its walls.

Durkon "leaves" the clan for his mission

Seventeen years prior to the formation of the Order of the Stick, Durkon was visited by Hurak, the high priest of Thor, who informed him that the deity had selected him for a mission to human lands. Durkon was to remain with humans indefinitely, ostensibly until he was summoned home to act as a cultural instructor to his people.

However, the true reason for the "mission" was that the priest of Odin had arrived at the temple that morning with a prophecy that, when Durkon next returned home, he would bring death and destruction upon his people. In order to thwart the prophesy, the high priest had no intention of ever calling Durkon home, leaving him effectively banished for life; possibly an unnecessary deception, as given Durkon's extreme sense of duty, he might well have accepted lifelong banishment for the good of his people.

Durkon made his way to human lands, where he almost immediately got off onto the wrong foot with the first humans that he met, then was appalled to discover that the best beer in human lands tasted, in his opinion, like moose urine.

Fourteen years later, Durkon was part of an adventuring group. Having grown surly and unpleasant as a result of his experiences, he was frequently sent on apparently suicidal missions by his allies. When his party accepted a mission to deal with a group of orcs who were causing problems in a nearby village, Durkon was paired with a newly recruited fighter, Roy Greenhilt. In the course of another suicide mission, Roy threw himself in the way of an attack that the dwarf hadn't seen coming, earning a measure of trust from the dwarf. When Roy subsequently negotiated a peaceful settlement between the village and the orcs, who it turned out were only in the area for a concert, Durkon came to realize that there was at least one human worth knowing.

Roy left the group, which had simply wanted to slaughter the orcs, that being quicker and more convenient than negotiating, and Durkon followed him, agreeing to be a part of any party the fighter subsequently founded.

Roy and Durkon traveled together for the next three years, searching for clues to the whereabouts of the lich, Xykon. Finally getting the information that they needed from the Oracle of Sunken Valley, they came to the conclusion that more allies would be required to assault Xykon's stronghold. Returning to a nearby town, Roy recruited four other adventurers to join the party, and the Order of the Stick was born.

Durkon had been a highly effective member of the team since its formation. As team cleric, his healing spells were often in demand and he served well alongside his friend Roy as one of the Order's front line warriors. During his time with the party, he had a brief relationship with Hilgya Firehelm, a female dwarf cleric of Loki. Durkon was also briefly the leader of a group of bandits for subduing the previous leader Samantha. Also, as a prize from his adventures, he possessed an Amulet of Natural Armor and could also still had the Girdle of Feminity/Masculinity which Roy discarded after Durkon helped him remove it with a Remove Curse spell.

As a boon from Lord Shojo of Azure City, a messenger, in this case Miko Miyazaki, was sent to Durkon's homeland to obtain permission from the High Priest of Thor to allow Durkon home. Hurak had died years ago, and the new High Priest could find in his predecessor's notes no mention of or justification for Durkon's ostracism; he wrote for Durkon to come home at any time. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately, given the original reason for his exile), the letter was eaten by The Monster In The Darkness.[2] The message was in a sealed diplomatic pouch, making any verbal communication of the message impossible, as the courier, the now-deceased Miko Miyazaki was far too honourable to have opened it up.

When the Order revisited the Oracle of Sunken Valley to gain new information about Xykon's whereabouts, Durkon asked "How will I finally be returnin' ta me beloved dwarven homelands?", the Oracle answered, "Posthumously". Durkon, who had previously believed that he would die in human lands and his body torn apart by animals or left to rot, found comfort in this idea, knowing that he would ultimately be reunited with his family. How this foretelling will affect or be affected by the prophecy of Odin is unknown, though it may have something to do with his current state as a vampire.

As of now, Durkon's consciousness has been revealed to be trapped within his body and has been given a new consciousness by Hel, the dwarves' goddess of dishonorable death, Durkon's body has become the High Priest of Hel probably due to his being a vampire and Durkon's soul is currently struggling to break free, albeit ineffectively. Hel apparently has plans for Kraggor's Gate which are currently unknown

On a side note, Durkon's middle name has been revealed to be Allotrope and he has realised that he can at least irritate the high priest of Hel if nothing else with his bad joke memories

He was killed by the vampire lizardfolk, Malack, expressing acceptance, because he believed he could finally return home now. Immediately afterwards, Malack raised him as a vampire using an unspecified spell to expedite the process. He then served Malack as a thrall for a short period before Malack's destruction at Nale's hands, following which he immediately attacked Nale and Zz'dtri. After killing Zz'dtri, he immediately moved to help the Order, pointing out to Roy that the world was still at stake and that that Durkon's new alignment didn't mean he was any more evil than Belkar. He continues to assist the Order with various healing spells and in combat, aid that has been accepted by the rest of the party - save Belkar, who encouraged Roy to destroy Durkon immediately

Sadly, Belkar's fears are entirely valid, as it turns out Durkon's body is under the control of the High Priest of Hel, who plans to use her new priest to destroy the Dwarves.

Durkon is something of a stereotypical dwarf, wearing heavy armor, carrying a powerful weapon, possessing a low charisma, having a great interest in beer and so forth, although - as noted in the paragraph below - he also subverts this stereotype somewhat. He was a very honest person, although he has lied by omitting the whole truth. This is shown when he convinces Miko that the Order didn't try to escape there cells by saying the five of them never left their cells (Durkon did not, the others did) and that the doors were unlocked because of a mechanical defect ("I dinno, I count, "able to be picked by a Rogue" as a major defect, aye?"). He is dutiful, pious (often attributing his god Thor with more purpose and planning than the rather wild god typically displays), unassuming and stoic. He believes in speaking plainly, rarely resorting to the wit or sarcasm often used (or at least attempted) by his teammates. He speaks (and, oddly enough, writes) with a Scottish accent. Though not immune to temptation, he believes strongly in proper behavior; while he ogled Haley along with the rest of the males in the party on one occasion when she suffered a 'wardrobe malfunction', he chastised Julia Greenhilt when she attempted to flirt with him to gain his attention. This is probably because, while the party saw Haley naked by accident, Julia was attempting to use her body on him deliberately, and Durkon's strong morals prevented such behavior. He was also horrified to learn after sleeping with Hilgya that she is still married[3], and angrily chews her out for leaving her husband[4].

While Durkon generally fits the concept of a dwarf very well, he is also very much, like other members of his party, a counter-stereotype, too, in his case to the traditional "drunken dwarf fighter". Despite loving beer, Durkon had never been shown as drunk, and is fully capable of holding massive amounts of liquor (drinking ten beers in ten seconds while New Year's was counting down in Azure City and it has been noted in the Priest's letter that dwarves have 2 livers). Likewise, though most dwarves in fantasy novels are the goofy comic relief, Durkon acts as the other "straight man" besides Roy (who is also a counter-stereotype of his class) of his party; and despite wearing heavy armor and weapons, Durkon tended to rely more on his spells than his sheer physical might. It has been noted though, that "He'd be a pretty good warrior if he had a better head for numbers". He also showed little indication of the stereotypical dwarven greed. Upon conquering a bandit clan, he ordered them to prepare a lunch for the Order for the road, and a giant gold tankard of beer for his own personal use. However, his very next order would be for the clan to disband, as banditry is not only wrong, it is also dangerous.

Durkon had been described in the print comic, On The Origin Of PCs, as being lawful. In Chapter 844 of the main series, Haley notes that his full alignment is Lawful Good. This is best shown when he lectures Hilgya about the importance of duty to dwarves, and how they must do their duty even if it makes them miserable ("ESPECIALLY if it makes ye miserable!")

He hates the undead and reflexively tried to turn them as soon as they are even mentioned. He also, apparently in common with the rest of his people, had a severe phobia regarding trees, believing them to be powerful stealthy monsters.

Based on the spells and abilities he had displayed or had attributed to him by other characters, he was at least 13th level, as that is the minimum level to cast Resurrection.

He was an active worshiper of Thor, always wearing a W.W.T.D (What Would Thor Do?) prayer necklace.

Durkon Thundershield is one of the characters players may choose when playing the Order of the Stick Adventure Game. The abilities of the character are reflective of his personality and skills as depicted in the comic, with cards titled such things as Thor's Lightning, Cure Assorted Wounds, and W.W.T.D.?.

One of his "Loot" obtainable in the game include "Shield of Sparrow Deflection," "Beer of Annilation," and "Thor's Love," which is a note in the shape of a heart with laces.